The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 451 Goodbye, Xuanzang
Li Yuan was used to his grandson's tough approach, so he burned his monk's robes without saying a word and announced to the world that Xuanzang had returned to secular life.

This child hasn't changed at all. He doesn't have much kindness or compassion, and he doesn't feel any sympathy for Xuanzang.

Gao Shilian said that Cheng Qian was a child who was very suitable to be the emperor. This child was skillful, not indecisive, and not too soft-hearted.

Compared with Erlang, who is loyal and righteous, he is more suitable to be an emperor than Erlang.

As the third emperor of Li Tang, he proved to be very suitable to sit on the throne.

Even when Erlang wanted to abdicate, the child did not refuse or even make excuses.

Cheng Qian did change. At least more people died under his orders, and countless people were exiled to the Western Regions.

Li Chengqian asked the eunuch to bring an official uniform for Xuanzang to wear.

Xuanzang put on his thick clothes as he was told. He immediately felt the cold wind was no longer biting and a warmth came from within. He said the same words, "I want to bid farewell to Your Majesty."

"Are you going to leave just now?"

Xuanzang nodded and said, "I said that I would pray for the Tang Dynasty for my whole life."

Li Chengqian said to him: "But you have returned to secular life."

"I will no longer go to temples or chant the Buddha's name. I will find a place to live and compile the Indian scriptures."

Li Chengqian said, "I forgot to tell you that all the monks in India are dying out. The Tang Dynasty conquered Qunu City and killed many monks. If you think those monks deserve to die, leave now. If you have pity on those monks, take off the clothes I gave you and behead yourself."

Xuanzang bowed and then, without saying anything, walked quickly into the wind and snow.

It seems that he has no mercy on the Indian monks.

Li Yuan said: "He wants to pray for blessings, live in seclusion, and take away the Buddhist scriptures from India. Is he returning to secular life?"

Li Chengqian drank tea and watched Xuanzang's back being buried in the snow. He said, "My grandson has announced to the world that he has returned to secular life. He himself has admitted it. This is enough."

Li Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "You really don't mind small matters."

"Grandpa, it's hard to change a person, but I can't change him." Li Chengqian held the tea bowl in one hand and said slowly, "Xuanzang can't betray his lifelong beliefs, nor can he violate the agreement between me and him. This is the best result."

Li Yuan closed his eyes again and sat quietly.

Xuanzang walked out of the Suzaku Gate and onto Suzaku Street.

The residents of Chang'an were very curious when they saw a monk wearing court official uniform.

It was not until a famous guard read out the imperial edict loudly and posted a notice in front of the Suzaku Gate that people knew that Xuanzang had returned to secular life.

Passing by the markets of Chang'an City, Xuanzang arrived at the gate of Chongwenguan, which was the former site of Shengguang Temple.

The student who had just walked out of Chongwen Hall asked curiously, "Who are you?"

"Xuanzang, come and get the Buddhist scriptures."

"Xuan...Xuanzang?" The student hurried back to pass on the message.

Half an hour later, students from the Chongwen Academy brought a cart of Indian scriptures to Xuanzang, saying, "We have never read these scriptures, nor have we ever lost them. We return them in their original state."

Xuanzang left Chang'an City in the wind and snow, carrying the cart of scriptures.

Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan rode out of Chang'an City and caught up with Xuanzang who was driving his carriage.

"Xuanzang!" Lu Dongzan shouted and caught up with the carriage.

Xuanzang grabbed the horse's reins and turned to look at the person coming.

Songtsen Gampo rode forward, blocked the road and asked, "You want to leave?"

Xuanzang said, "Zamp's health has improved and he can ride a horse now."

Looking at him puzzled, Songtsen Gampo asked: "You were willing to risk your life to return to Chang'an, why are you leaving now?"

Lu Dongzan said: "Tian Khan is Zamp's friend. Zamp will plead with Tian Khan for you."

Xuanzang said: "Your Majesty did not drive me away, I wanted to leave. In fact, Your Majesty also wanted me to stay, but I rejected Your Majesty's kindness."

Songtsen Gampo breathed heavily in the cold wind, "Where are you going?"

Xuanzang whispered, "Go wherever you want to go."

"You..." Songtsen Gampo seemed to be very angry and said, "You can stay."

But Xuanzang still had a smile on his face. Was he very happy?
Songtsen Gampo had no choice but to give way.

Xuanzang drove a carriage full of Buddhist scriptures and left.

Lu Dongzan asked, "Zanpu, are you just going to let him go like this?"

Songtsen Gampo remained silent.

Lu Dongzan looked around, feeling confused.

The next day, the court was on break and Li Chengqian was eating hot pot with his son and daughter. Only then did they learn that after Xuanzang left Chang'an, he headed west. Someone asked Xuanzang where he was going, and he said he was going to Shazhou.

Xuanzang fulfilled a failed promise. Although he returned to secular life, he was still alone. He changed out of his monk's robes, but could never change out of the official uniform bestowed upon him by the emperor.

Xuanzang was a paid official, and was a registered official at the Honglu Temple. The Dali Temple had already gone to investigate Xuanzang's real name and background.

Those were all secrets from many years ago.

The ten-year-old Yu Tu asked, "Dad, will Xuan Zang come back?"

Little Magpie chewed the mutton and said, "He will definitely not come back."

Little Mengji asked: "Why don't you come back?"

Seeing that the three children who could remember things were all looking at him, Li Chengqian said, "Eat, don't ask."

The three children obediently lowered their heads and continued eating.

It was New Year's Day, so Li Chengqian asked Yu Tu to go back to live with his grandfather, and asked Que'er to live with his grandfather for a few days. The Liangyi Hall became much quieter again.

Little Mengji was sitting on a bench, taking care of her little brother while he was eating.

The youngest child in Liangyi Hall is also one year old.

Li Chengqian walked leisurely in the palace, looking at the Lingyan Pavilion in front of him.

The palace maid hurried over and reported, "Your Majesty, there is a letter from Xuanzang."

Li Chengqian took the letter and looked at the words in it. There were many words written in Xuanzang's letter. Perhaps there were some words that he could not say in person and could only write in the letter.

Not only does it talk about the connection with Xuanzang, but it also talks about the reason why Bopo prayed for the Eastern Palace back then.

So many years have passed, Popo has passed away and Xuanzang has returned to secular life.

Li Chengqian said to himself, "He is still used to writing letters. He won't speak in front of me, right?"

The palace maid stood aside with her head down, saying nothing.

In the letter, Xuanzang said that he wanted to see the present Western Regions and stay in Shazhou for the rest of his life. He would participate in the teaching program at Chongwenguan, but would remain anonymous.

He didn't say whether he would come back or when he would return to Guanzhong. Perhaps he would never come back.

After Popo passed away, all the monks of Shengguang Temple returned to secular life. Xuanzang traveled for three years and saw all the scenery in the Central Plains. It seemed that there was nothing left in this land that was worth his concern.

Li Chengqian wrote two words on the back of the paper, which were his hometown, and said, "Have someone return it to Xuanzang."

The maid took the paper and bowed, saying, "Yes."

Xuanzang was like a man without a home or roots. Did he really return to secular life?

Haha, he just changed his clothes, he is still a monk in his heart and has never returned to secular life.

Does this count as disobeying the imperial order or not?

He said that he met many old friends, some of them were officials in the court, and some were monks who had returned to secular life. They wanted to leave a home and a temple for Xuanzang to stay in. But Xuanzang refused because he had his own things to do and places he wanted to go.

Along the way, Xuanzang slept in the carriage with the scriptures. When he arrived in Shazhou, it should have been a warm spring.

This is what Xuanzang said in the letter.

Li Chengqian took two steps, leaving footprints on the snow.

I don’t know how many years it will take for Xuanzang to come back. He may be very old, or he may never come back.

Xuanzang's story will be recorded in history books, and people will remember this person.

In the volunteer teaching library in Weinan County, Wang Jiusi was sorting out the articles written by the children.

"Jiusi! Xuanzang has returned to secular life."

Hearing his sister's words, Wang Jiusi stopped what he was doing and pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's okay."

After leaving the study, Wang Jiusi and several teachers who were also teaching there listened to their discussions. They said that Xuanzang had fulfilled his three-year agreement with His Majesty and returned to secular life after returning, which was considered as fulfilling the agreement.

Your Majesty also returned the Indian scriptures.

Both Xuanzang and Your Majesty fulfilled their promise.

Wang Jiusi then understood that although Xuanzang, who came to Chang'an from Luoyang, seemed relaxed and comfortable, in fact, he mustered up a lot of courage on the way to Chang'an.

The person who had the greatest influence on this generation was the emperor of that time. During the Zhenguan period, his majesty launched an eastern expedition, pacified Liaodong, and allowed the remains of the former Sui soldiers to return home.

For Wang Jiusi, there is another person who has had the greatest influence on him, and that is Xuanzang.

"Jiusi." The teacher beside him asked, "Aren't you acquainted with Xuanzang? Why don't you go and ask him?"

Wang Jiusi said, "What's there to ask? I'm just listening for fun."

The generals of the Anxi Army finally left the Longxi territory and were finally about to reach Chang'an.

Xue Rengui and Liang Jianfang rode side by side in the front, and behind them was a long convoy.

There is still snow on both sides of the official road and the weather is still very cold.

Xue Rengui saw a carriage approaching on the official road not far away. He raised his head and said, "The Anxi army is returning to Chang'an. Get out of the way quickly."

Xuanzang drove the horses and stopped the carriage at the side of the official road.

The generals of the Anxi Army rode their horses forward with high spirits.

Xuanzang was sitting on the shaft of a cart by the official road, looking at the troops. He saw a man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing Tang Dynasty armor.

Looking again, I realized it was the white side.

Bai Fang is currently chatting and laughing with a few people of his age, and he looks very happy.

Xuanzang did not recognize them, but watched the troops leave, and then continued to ride his horse to Shazhou.

Bai Fang seemed to have sensed something and suddenly turned around to look at the carriage driving away.

"When I get to Chang'an, I will become a royal general like the Prince of Hejian and the Prince of Jiangxia back then." Li Zhi kept talking. Seeing that the other party ignored him, he said, "Bai Fang! Are you listening?"

Bai Fang came back to his senses and asked, "Is there any difference between a royal family general and me?"

Li Shen said: "Of course it's different. The generals of the royal family have no military power."

"Hahaha!" Li Jingheng on the side suddenly burst into laughter.

Bai Fang frowned and said, "It's not fun to have a general who can't lead his troops into battle."

Li Zhi looked angrily at Li Shen who was trying to sabotage him.

Di Renjie rode up and said, "Maybe your Majesty will punish me."

Li Shen sighed, "Just punish me. I've been used to being punished since I was a child."

Li Zhi still looked like a late bloomer and didn't look like a gifted person at all.

Pei Yan walked on one side of the team with a stern face. They would serve in the same court in the future, but the distance between them was further away, and it would be difficult for them to have any interactions in the future.

The people before us have fought and killed enemies on the battlefield of Congling Mountains, and no one knows what the future will be like.

The team marched for a day and rested outside a village. Pei Xingjian ordered people to set up camp on the spot and cook.

"Huaiying, your parents are here."

Di Renjie had just taken a mouthful of dry food and had not yet responded when he choked on it. He kept beating his chest and it took him a while to recover.

Di Renjie walked outside the military camp and confirmed that it was his parents.

Mother Di stepped forward quickly and said, "You've been away for more than a year. You've grown taller. Come and see if you're injured anywhere."

Di Renjie thought to himself that he had many wounds on his body, and some of the cuts were very deep, but fortunately he managed to survive.

He turned around on the spot and said, "Mom, I'm not hurt."

Mother Di nodded and finally smiled, saying, "That's good."

Di Renjie looked up and asked, "Dad, why are you here too?"

Before Di Zhixun could speak, Di's mother pulled her son and said, "Your father is on leave, so let him come along. Hmm... That's great. My son has also been on the battlefield and killed the enemy."

Di Zhixun said in a deep voice: "Don't be proud even if you have some military achievements."

Di Renjie noticed that the brothers behind him were all looking at him with snickers, as if he was a child who had not grown up. For a moment, he felt his face turn red all the way to his ears.

Mother Di handed over a heavy food box and said, "I don't know what hardships you have endured outside. This is the food I made. Share some with your brothers. They are all your close friends."

Di Renjie nodded in understanding, holding the food box and said, "Thank you, Dad and Mom."

Di's mother pulled Di Zhixun into the carriage and left.

Di Renjie stood there for a long time before returning to the camp. As soon as he walked here, everyone laughed.

Bai Fang sniffed the food box carefully and asked, "What's delicious?"

Di Renjie sat back in front of his tent and brought out the food.

Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian, Pei Yan... everyone gathered around and snatched all the food from the food boxes.

Not a single bite was left for Di Renjie.

Bai Fang was chewing a piece of cake in his mouth while rummaging through the compartments in the food box with his hands.

Di Renjie held his forehead and said, "No more."

Bai Fang looked at the bottom of the food box, confirmed that it was gone then clapped his hands, still chewing the pastry in his mouth, and left.

Pei Yan's parents did not come to visit, but received a letter from home.

Pei Xingjian had no family members to visit him. After his closest old servant passed away, he had been sitting like this, with Brother Xue, watching the happy soldiers.

Not far away, Yuchi Gong came riding on horseback.

Cheng Yaojin laughed loudly and said, "Haha! Jingde!"

Yuchi Gong first glanced at Prince Jin and Prince Ji, then spoke to Cheng Yaojin in a low voice.

Li Shen overheard and came over quickly, saying, "Father has summoned us."

"now?"

"Well, we are going to follow General Yuchi to see our father, the emperor and our mother, the queen."

(End of this chapter)